MMOP Barely Squeaks By, Aided by Benson’s Bureau of Elections

Lansing, MI – The Michigan Board of State Canvassers voted 3-1 on Friday to certify the signatures of the Michigander for Money out of Politics (MMOP) ballot petition after a contentious round of challenges.

MMOP was able to pass the signature threshold by only nine signatures after challenges made by Protect MI Free Speech. In their original challenges, Protect MI Free Speech was able to identify dozens of signatures that were duplicates, from unregistered voters, and even from voters who were dead – all of which Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s Bureau of Elections (BOE) missed in its original assessment. 

The BOE also mistakenly scanned at least one signature sheet twice, which may have compromised the 1,000 signature sample they pulled to verify the legitimacy of the petitions. Protect MI Free Speech did not mince words when it came to the work of the BOE on this ballot initiative:

However, despite the obvious problems with the “sloppy” signatures, the Board did reject some of Protect MI Free Speech’s challenges. In a bizarre decision, the Board ruled that signatures with completely made-up addresses would be considered valid. Had those signatures been disallowed, MMOP would have failed to meet the threshold to make the ballot.

“Much of the consternation that occurred on Friday could’ve been avoided if Benson’s Bureau of Elections had done its job,” said Gabe Butzke, a spokesperson for Michigan Forward Network. “The bureau missed dozens of issues with the MMOP petitions, and, on its advice, the Board of Canvassers has now approved an initiative for the ballot that had – at best – sloppy signatures with fake addresses.”